English PEN warmly welcomes the news that Qatari poet Mohammed al-‘Ajami has finally been pardoned and released after more than four years in prison. While this is a hugely welcome development, PEN maintains that the poet should never have been detained. Cat Lucas, English PEN’s Writers at Risk Programme Manager, said: We are delighted by

On 25 February 2016 members of English PEN, Amnesty International and Farrago Poetry gathered at the Embassy of the State of Qatar in London to protest the imprisonment of Mohammed al-‘Ajami. Al-‘Ajami has been in prison since his arrest in on 16 November 2011. He was charged with ‘challenging the authority of the Emir’ after

On the third anniversary of the unfair 15-year prison sentence handed down to the Qatari poet Mohammed al-‘Ajami, the human rights bodies Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), Amnesty International, English PEN, Freedom Now, PEN International and Split This Rock renew longstanding calls for his immediate and unconditional release. On 25 February

Today marks four years since well-known poet Mohammed Al-Ajami, known as Ibn al-Dheeb, was arrested for reciting a poem critical of Qatar’s ruling family. Four years on we continue to call for his immediate and unconditional release. Please join us by signing and sharing our petition for Mohammed Al-Ajami. We plan to deliver the petition in